Shania Twain Apologizes After Saying She Would Have Voted for Trump If She Could

In a new and revealing interview with the Guardian, Shania Twain outlines her journey to her current comeback, and drops a few unexpected tidbits. One of these? The fact that, had she been able to vote in the U.S. 2016 election, she would have cast her ballot for Donald Trump.

“I would have voted for him because, even though he was offensive, he seemed honest," the Canadian singer tells the outlet. "Do you want straight or polite? Not that you shouldn’t be able to have both. If I were voting, I just don’t want bullshit. I would have voted for a feeling that it was transparent. And politics has a reputation of not being that, right?”

Twain, who has a large gay following (she appeared most recently on RuPaul's Drag Race as a guest judge on April 19), promptly received a deluge of criticism on social media for this revelation, with many fans declaring they were over and done with her. Several pointed out that her abusive childhood — which she suffered largely at the hands of her stepfather — should have made her wary regarding the current president's honesty, due to his various controversial allegations involving women.

Still other fans took a pragmatic approach, noting that Twain is a country musician and that country music tends to have a conservative base.

After the news of her interview broke, Twain issued a lengthy response on social media apologizing for her comments. In a four-part tweet, she explains:

"I would like to apologize to anybody I have offended in a recent interview with the Guardian relating to the American President. The question caught me off guard. As a Canadian, I regret answering this unexpected question without giving my response more context. I am passionately against discrimination of any kind and hope it’s clear from the choices I have made, and the people I stand with, that I do not hold any common moral beliefs with the current President.

I was trying to explain, in response to a question about the election, that my limited understanding was that the President talked to a portion of America like an accessible person they could relate to, as he was NOT a politician. My answer was awkward, but certainly should not be taken as representative of my values nor does it mean I endorse him. I make music to bring people together. My path will always be one of inclusivity, as my history shows."

Twain revealed several other potentially incendiary things in the Guardian interview, including that her childhood abuse included sexual elements, that she has a great fondness for foul language, and that she harbors undiluted hatred for former friend Marie-Anne Thiébaud (whose ex, Frederic, is now Twain's husband).

The singer broke a lengthy reprieve from the music industry last year with the release of her album Now and is about to embark on her extensive Shania Now Tour that takes her to nearly 50 cities across the U.S. and Canada from May through August.

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